LED Driving Light Questions

Hey guys, new to the forums but have been a long time lurker. Ive recently gotten the idea to make a LED headlight for a motorcycle. The motorcycle is kick-start with no battery. I have a voltage converter to go from 14v-90v AC (stator) to "12v" DC (more like 12-14 or 15v). So my power source is now somewhat stable DC. I am thinking about running 6 LEDs, 3 will come on as soon as the bike is started and act as running lights and low beam. The other 3 will kick on when I select the highbeam switch. The reason I am wanting to do this is for simplistic reasons and not having to mess with multi-mode switching when I start the bike up. I will be needing 2 single mode drivers and 6 LEDs. I am looking at the Cree XP-G and XT-E LEDs...but I have not found a driver that I could use. Anybody know what could be done for those? Those lights dont necessarily need to be what I use, just what I have thought about. I will be using reflectors and lenses to get the beam how I want. Depending on the driver, I will wire the lights parallel or in series.

Thanks guys! I will continue to read on here and other random google information.

Welcome to the board. Your question has a simple answer. Unfortunately, that answer is "No". Homemade headlamps are not effective, safe, or legal, and Rule 11 of this board prohibits advocating illegal or dangerous activity. Vehicles used on public roadways must be equipped with lights that are tested and certified or approved in accordance with complex technical regulations that carry the force of national and/or international law. Getting the beams "how you want" is not at all sufficient. There are (certified/approved) LED headlamps available on the market in a range of prices and qualities; look at installing one of those.

I never said that the motorcycle was going to be used on the street, therefore its not breaking any rules. It is an offroad bike, a dirtbike, and so it will NOT be used on the public roadways. So with that being said, could the reasons on why "No" is said?

A dirt bike running parallel to a road would also require type approval,your best bet imo would be to buy a purpose made after market light unit.

BlackHornet said:

I never said that the motorcycle was going to be used on the street,

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You said "low beam", which implies traffic. This is not like other forums where "Off-road use only" gets thrown around with a wink and a nod.

could the reasons on why "No" is said?

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Headlight beams are not simple spots or floods, they are very complex, with photometric requirements at a large range of test points and zones. Meeting the requirements requires extensive special knowledge and equipment, and testing the resultant lamp requires more/different special knowledge and equipment. Even someone very knowledgeable about headlamps cannot kluge a headlamp together in a basement/garage/kitchen workshop. Beyond that, what would you like to know?

mcnair55 said:

A dirt bike running parallel to a road would also require type approval,your best bet imo would be to buy a purpose made after market light unit.

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i do not think you can ride a dirt bike parallel to public roads, in usa. unless you want it impounded

I've been doing some research and will end up buying different lenses and reflectors to test around with. It doesn't need to end up being 100% perfect but more perfect the better. Main thing I was wondering was information about the drivers. I thought about building the drivers but then thought about buying some drivers and changing a few things around on them if needed since they are so cheap. While I am new to LEDs, I am not new to electronics, went to school for electrical engineering before getting a job offer in manufacturing engineering. It seems as if it is difficult to find correct specs of drivers since they seem to be mainly from China and you will end up seeing the same drivers with different specs and so on. I have been using Crees website to get specs for their LEDs but then other websites will say other specs so it all just gets confusing.

I was mainly wanting real-world experience/info if hands-on feedback on what has actually worked well. The components are cheap but the lead time to the states on these things can sometimes be a month at best and so placing multiple orders could be very time consuming. I also don't want to order "one of everything" and then have items that wont ever get used...so any hands on experience would be awesome.

So, some reflectors and lenses from Carclo (any other brands suggested?), LEDs from Cree (XM-L2?), drivers from??

Thinking:
Low Beam (always on):
1 driver
3 LEDs
3 Reflectors
3 Lenses

High Beam:
1 driver
3 LEDs
3 Reflectors
3 Lenses


I thought about a microcontroller of some sort but since space would be somewhat limited and bouncing around, I figured just more simple then the better...hence using 2 single-mode drivers.
Thanks guys!!

Or maybe if 3 LEDs in "Low beam" wouldnt be enough then maybe just using a 5 pin relay hooked to the 2 drivers accordingly and so when the light switch is flipped to High beam, it "swaps" drivers and uses the one with more output...but that would depend on if I could get by with hooking 6 XM-L2s up to a single driver and still have good results.

BlackHornet said:

I've been doing some research and will end up buying different lenses and reflectors to test around with. It doesn't need to end up being 100% perfect but more perfect the better.

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All this "testing around" means you're really not working on achieving an actual goal, a goal that could be met by getting purpose-built (and legal) lamps.

Oh, and the thing about "perfect"-- it's not perfect unless it's 100% perfect.

I was mainly wanting real-world experience/info if hands-on feedback on what has actually worked well.

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What works well are those items made by legitimate companies with the right equipment and right specifications.

Thinking:
Low Beam (always on)

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And this is why we think you plan on using it on the road. Why would a dirt bike need a low beam headlamp to be "always on"?

Whether on or off road, you'll want a light that stands up to the rigors of riding. It'll take a LOT of work to get that accomplished. A good off-the-shelf product will mean more time riding (and safely) and less time fiddling with everything.

low beam would be for when following and not blinding them to no end. Only reason I said "always on" is because it would be easier to wire that way because of the types of switches that go on the bars. If the bike had a 3 stage key or something then I could wire the lights so that they were only come on when the key was turned all of the way instead of just on "Run" BUT since theres not a keyed switch on the bike anywhere, I was just going to wire the low beam as always on.
As far as goal and being perfect...if you're saying that its not perfect unless its 100% perfect, then I suppose nothing in this world deserves the word perfect because we all know that nothing is 100% perfect.

Legitimate companies? I did ask for suggestions of companies...
Im pretty sure that Cree is a legitimate company, as with Carclo, the drivers is where I left it empty because everything that I have come across seems to be from China.

I am aware that it is going to take a lot of work to get a light that will stand up to it all but if the components (ones that I will not be building) are not poor quality, then they should be fine in the housing that I am building/securing.

BlackHornet said:

Im pretty sure that Cree is a legitimate company

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They are, but they make emitters, not complete lamp assemblies. Philips is a legitimate company, but buying their HB4 bulbs and then trying to make a functional headlamp around them is inadvisable. A lamp assembly is a whole system comprising a light source and optics to deliver a desired pattern. The electrical part is just a sidebar for now. You want to make a lamp with an acceptable pattern for off-road use, which is much more complicated than it may seem. Check this thread for someone's work on a 6XML lightbar, taking note that there are genuine concerns about excessive foreground light which could be detrimental to your driving experience. Even that lamp is designed as "supplemental" or "extra", not as the main lamp.

alpg88 said:

i do not think you can ride a dirt bike parallel to public roads, in usa. unless you want it impounded

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Of course you can think about it,any private piece of land that happens to run parallel to a public road is good for a go.